Aidyn Aimbetov's son: I want to be a cosmonaut too! (PHOTOS)

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Amir Aimbetov, the son of Kazakhstani cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov, was among those who greeted his father and the rest of Souyz TMA 16M spacecraft crew in the steppes of Karaganda region upon landing on Saturday morning.

Amir who is only 17 is the spitting image of his father. He dreams about becoming a cosmonaut or a pilot. And to make this dream come true he goes in for sports and studies well at one of the schools in Astana. His younger sister Diana, 14, says that her father has always set an example by his diligence and attitude to life and people around him. "My father went through a lot of trials on his way to his dream of becoming a cosmonaut." Nine-year-old Dayana, the youngest child in the family, says that she just loves her ‘daddy and knows he is the strongest man on earth'. "We haven't slept for days when it [Soyuz TMA-18M] blasted off and flew into space. We tried to stay positive," adds Aidyn's wife and his most avid supporter. Aidyn Aimbetov waited for this high point of his professional career for 12 years and maybe his son Amir will inherit the helm and become one of prominent Kazakhstani cosmonauts like his father. Aidyn Aimbetov, the third Kazakhstani cosmonaut in space, and his crewmates - Dutch cosmonaut Andreas Mogensen and Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka landed in the Kazakh steppe on early Saturday morning.

Aimbetov's space flight was one of the most anticipated and talked about news of this year in Kazakhstan.